MISE-EN-SCENE

I decided to comment on the mise-en-scene of the 2007 film  "There will be blood" directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. This film is know to be one of the best movies to demonstrate mise-en-scene and said that the mise-en-scene is what pushes the story. I chose this film because of the high reviews that it has received and the perfect executions of mise-en-scene. Personally my favorite part and arguably the best part of the whole film is the acting and performances of the main characters.

The film starts off in a mining tunnel showing the main character doing different things in the dark tunnel. This gives off an example of lowkey lighting which is used throughout the film. Lowkey lighting is when the fill light is at a very low level, causing the frame to be cast with large shadows.  This creates a dark and gloomy feeling making it seem as if you too are going in the dark in a  scary tunnel it also helps to direct the main focus on the main character or an object that brighter.

This movie is supposed to take  place during the late 19th century and the early 20th century but was made in 2007 so it stresses the importance of  the mise-en-scene of costume. Costume is important because it can demonstrate a  character’s personality, status, and to signify these differences between characters. Costume is an important part of displaying the era in which the film is set showing typical outfits wore in that period and helps to make the movie seem more accurate and sets the theme. The movie "there will be blood" does an amazing job at conveying the right outfits to be worn in that time period showing what people would wear in all walks of life ranging from what kids would wear , women , poor workers, rich men, and even young ladies . The nice outfits the main character wears shows his power , wealth , and status in the industry and time period playing an important part in portraying who he really is.

Being in the empty and almost untouched California wilderness drilling for oil much of the scenes demonstrate deep space or when there are important components in the frame located both close to and far from the camera. This creates a wide feeling and shows how big something can be for example when they are showing the off the new drilling station they built demonstrating how massive it is and how small/far they are from it. This deep space also intertwines with the setting/staging showing how things compare for example the oil rig being bigger than the church showing what is more important to the owner... the oil.